Sourcing Best Practices: How to Build Your Own Deal Sourcing Engine

September 11, 2024

by a searcher from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor in New York, NY, USA

Hello searchers! I run sourcing operations for $250M+ PE firm and put together a course on how to build a deal sourcing engine from the ground up.

What's included in the course

- Finding leads: how to find SaaS, healthcare, or prof services companies using LinkedIn, AI web-scrapers, and public data sets.

- Enrich your data: how to (inexpensively) enrich your data to curate hyper-targeted outbound lists and aggregate CEO contact data

- Screening & prioritization: how to set up a screening process to identify high priority targets efficiently

- Run outbound cadences: how to build email & cold call sequences that get CEOs on the phone

- Manage pipeline: organize deals to stay on top of active and long term deals

What else you get

- Top sourcing tools: my personal list of the best sourcing tools including CRMs, email automation, web-scrapers, AI tools, and more!

- Cold email tips: how to structure founder-focused cold emails to maximize reply rates

You can sign up for early access here: https://miacone.gumroad.com/l/search-fund-sourcing-blueprint

Reply by a searcher
from University of North Texas in San Antonio, TX, USA

^redacted‌ Your course seems to be an excellent resource for searchers looking to build a more structured and effective approach to deal sourcing. As someone who has written books and developed courses on similar topics, I fully appreciate the importance of mastering the "how." That said, from my experience, the greatest challenge many searchers face isn't always technical—it’s achieving clarity. Before implementing tools and processes, it’s crucial to define the "why" and "what" with precision. When purpose and passion are not aligned, even the most well-built sourcing engine may fall short. I’ve seen firsthand how lack of direction can cause people to struggle. Once the "why" and "what" are solidified, the "how" follows naturally and becomes far more impactful. Thank you for sharing this valuable resource—I’m confident it will be incredibly helpful to many in the search community!

Reply by a searcher
from INSEAD in San Francisco, CA, USA

How applicable is the deal sourcing strategy of a $250M PE firm to a searcher? Smaller companies have minimal web presence and will fall through the cracks of even good lead generators. The owner's of many smaller, blue collar businesses aren't on LinkedIn and don't check their emails. And in my experience, enrichment will drastically shrink the size of your lead list unless the company has a strong online presence.

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